OK. So I've had our Mazda6S 5-Door Hatchback V6/5-speed manual for a year and a half and 17,000 miles now. Time for an owner update. This car still looks and drives great. Very smooth performing suspension, engine is happy to rev and pulls nicely above 3,000RPM. Kept in the right gear and it just wants to "zoom zoom" all over town! Exterior still looks new and since Mazda will not redesign until 2008, people can't tell if it's an 05 or an 07 model (only the wheels/front grill have changed...and not by much). Leather interior has held up very well. Very comfortable on short and long trips. Others say that's not so, so maybe it's because I am 5'9"/190# and the car is less comfortable if you are taller/larger. Just had the 15,000 mile service and got all fluids and filters changed plus brake wear check (still all 4 in "good range")and tires checked/rotated (2 fronts were at their half-life so I should see just over 30,000 miles out of them). Mileage for me has been steady at 20 or 21 MPG in mixed driving and a nice 26 MPG if I take it out of state on a highway-only trip. No unscheduled service stops, no rattles or squeeks, no warning lights from the dashboard, nothing but gas and smiles for the first 17,000 miles! It seems like that might not be everyone's experience (judging from this site) but I said before, buying this car with the right/important options could make a huge difference. I have seen some rental Mazda6's that don't look like they handle that life very well and I wouldn't compare the 4cyl to the 6cyl AT ALL.
DRIVING: Smooth and Sporty. V6/5Speed is important here, but the 06-07 V6/6Speed Auto is supposed to be great too. This 6 can get going pretty quickly (Fun) and can stop in a hurry too (more Fun). Tight around corners without much lean...you'll find yourself doing 65-70 before you know it. Engine runs smooth without much noise, no funny noises from the body/driveline either. Only nitpick is that you have to keep "current" on the clutch. Since it's not "Idiot-proof" like an Accord, you have to coordinate your left foot with your right and get the clutch take-up and engine acceleration timed correctly or you will bog or rev eccessivily as you get going in first gear. Not a problem if you drive your Mazda6 all the time instead of back and forth with your other car.
INTERIOR: Very upscale with the leather/heated seats. Power driver's seat has good adjustments. Sliding moonroof is used often. So are the 4 induvidual reading lamps...rears can be used at night without distracting the driver since they are well aft of the center of the roof and directional to the rear occupants. I find the center stack to be one of the best I've had. All the round dials have push and turn functions which are intuitive and easy to learn/use. Redundant steering wheel audio controls are used often. One-push "Auto" climate control is awesome and gets the A/C and fan speed going in the right direction until you want to take over and "override" the Auto feature by simply changing the fan speed manually. The best interior news is the 1001 uses for the huge hatchback. Easy to get to, easy to reconfigure the seats/shelf, can carry many oversized items and STILL close the hatch! I have carried some stuff that required the hatch to stay open but these were very long items. One thing that got overlooked was the nice placement of "tie-downs" on the carpeted floor, but none on the hatch. Therefore it is tough to use a bungie chord to hold the hatch down on top of your cargo since you have no place to connect the floor hook to. My only other low point is the overall interior noise level over bumpy surfaces. On smooth roads everything is fine but over speed bumps or rough roads, the rear end of the car shakes enough to make the ride noisy. I guess this is the tradeoff to have a hatchback and one I think is quite minor in order to get the versitility this car delivers.
OVERALL: I have had a great ownership experience with this Mazda6S. I liked the deal I got on it and it has kept the driving experience fun! If there are 2 cars in my garage when I need to go somewhere, you can bet this is the one I take! My wife expects to pay this one off and keep it for a long time after that. Good, I get the next new thing, then.
Amount Paid (US$): 22,400
Condition: New
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: V6 5speed Hatchback
